Timo Glock says he is “100% certain” that he is staying at Virgin for a second season, adding that the team has only held off from officially confirming him as it wants to announce its two 2011 drivers together.

The German, who joined the start-up Formula 1 squad from manufacturer giant Toyota last winter, signed a multi-year contract at the team but, despite issuing a statement on his personal website during the summer break in which he stated that he remained fully committed to the Virgin project, speculation has continued that he could yet seek a move up the grid.

That was fuelled by his absence from the draft 2011 entry list issued by the FIA earlier this week, Virgin one of three teams listed as having no drivers confirmed.

But in an interview published on Virgin’s website on Friday, Glock confirmed he was staying put for next season and thinks the team – which trailed Lotus in the new teams’ battle for the majority of its debut campaign – is ready to make progress in the new year, when it will have extra financial backing from Russian sportscar maker Marussia.

“I’m excited. And yes I am definitely driving for Virgin Racing,” he said.

Timo Glock says he is “100% certain” that he is staying at Virgin for a second season, adding that the team has only held off from officially confirming him as it wants to announce its two 2011 drivers together.

The German, who joined the start-up Formula 1 squad from manufacturer giant Toyota last winter, signed a multi-year contract at the team but, despite issuing a statement on his personal website during the summer break in which he stated that he remained fully committed to the Virgin project, speculation has continued that he could yet seek a move up the grid.

That was fuelled by his absence from the draft 2011 entry list issued by the FIA earlier this week, Virgin one of three teams listed as having no drivers confirmed.

But in an interview published on Virgin’s website on Friday, Glock confirmed he was staying put for next season and thinks the team – which trailed Lotus in the new teams’ battle for the majority of its debut campaign – is ready to make progress in the new year, when it will have extra financial backing from Russian sportscar maker Marussia.

“I’m excited. And yes I am definitely driving for Virgin Racing,” he said.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=”http://sam.itv.com/accipiter/adclick/SITE=ITV/AREA=SPORT.FORMULA1.NEWS/POSITION=1/AAMSZ=300×250/pageid=1″&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;img src=”http://sam.itv.com/accipiter/nserver/SITE=ITV/AREA=SPORT.FORMULA1.NEWS/POSITION=1/AAMSZ=300×250/pageid=1″&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; “There has been a lot of speculation about me wanting to leave the team, but it is not about leaving a team, it is about wanting to do better and keep moving forward.

“It is not just 99.9% certain that I will stay, as has been reported – it is 100% certain that I am staying!
“Since the beginning I have had a long-term contract with the team and I said then that I was doing this to help build a team for the future. It would not be possible to do that in one year from nothing.

“Plus I think with everything we have learned this year we can take a very good step up next season. This is a great team of people who have given blood, sweat and tears to our first season. Some people haven’t seen that with their own eyes, like I have, so it’s easy to criticise or be cynical.”

Glock was partnered by rookie Lucas di Grassi this year but there have been strong suggestions that Jerome D’Ambrosio will take the Brazilian’s seat for 2011, Virgin having evaluated the Belgian in several first practice sessions towards the end of the season.

He thinks the team is right to bide its team over the second driver so to ensure it picks the perfect candidate to compliment his greater experience.

“Well, I am already confirmed so there is nothing new to announce about me,” Glock explained.

“But I understand that the team wants to announce the line-up together when the second seat is confirmed.
“I think it is right to take our time and make sure we have the best combination of youth and experience, plus make sure we have the best information going back into the team at testing and races to ensure we can develop as quickly as we want to and keep moving forward.

“I don’t think we will have to wait too much longer for that news – hopefully before Christmas!”

Glock admits there were times during the team’s debut campaign when frustration got the better of him, but says setbacks were to be expected and that as a whole Virgin’s year can be seen as “pretty incredible”.
“2010 was a tough test for us all, but we survived and it was ultimately very rewarding for me,” said the three-time podium finisher.

“There were frustrations along the way and when things don’t go well, as a driver who is ambitious, I admit it was sometimes difficult, but I joined Virgin Racing knowing there would be difficult times ahead so it wasn’t really a surprise to me. We were building something from zero – no team, no factory, no previous year’s car to develop from and no data.

“Everything we have we have built ourselves in the space of less than a year.

“We should also remember that we were also taking a pretty revolutionary design approach to the VR-01 [the team used a purely CFD philosophy].

“If you look at our season from that perspective, we have achieved something pretty incredible.”